Deliverance
by Hawki
Summary: Oneshot: Pushed all the way back to the Ark and faced with extinction, two Forerunners ask the Flood a simple, yet pressing question..."why?"


_Despite how pathetic Halo 3's plot was, at least when it came to answering questions and filling plotholes, it at least offered some insight into the fall of the Forerunners, as to why they didn't survive the firing of the Halos, despite successfully reaching the Ark. Anyway, this oneshot is based in those last moments, being mainly inspired by Brave New World, although drawing similar inspiration from StarCraft, the leaked Halo 3 script (aka. one that actually made sense) and Doctor Who. Go figure._

_Disclaimer: Bungie owns Halo and all of its characters. Shame they can't use them well._

**Deliverance**

**Relative Date: 101,217 BCE**

**Location: Installation 00 (Ark), Battle zone Sigma**

**Battl****e zone Status: Critical**

**Flank Status: Critical**

**Rear Status: N/A**

**Reinforcement Availability: N/A**

**Array Status: Charging…**

They were all going to die.

It was morbidly ironic that Khalis was grateful for this fact, grateful that death could actually engulf him rather than the parasite. When it had first been encountered, his people had called it death incarnate, the manifestation of darkness. Poetic terms to be sure, but grossly inaccurate; the parasite did not represent death but rather "life in death," a cruel perversion of both.

"_Of course, I have to hold out long enough first," _the 777 year old warrior thought, cleaving another combat form in two with his psy spear, acidic blood splattering over his Class 14 combat suit. A few hundred years ago he would have been disgusted at this, frustrated that many of the few sessions of rest and meditation he received were taken up with cleaning his armour, not wanting the ornate writing and symbols to be covered with the stench of his enemy. That had been a long time ago though, almost another life entirely. Nowadays armour was simply made of unembellished metal, going from forge to fighter in a matter of days. By the gods, those were the days, days where rivers ran with water rather than blood…

'_Whoosh'_

Snapping out of his reflection by two acidic darts that zoomed past him, Khalis spun around to find the source of the projectiles, only His HUD, powered by his own mind, identified it a second later; two Flood ranged forms on the cliffs above them. Another volley came his way, only to be deflected by the Forerunner's psy spear, the intense spinning creating an artificial magnetic field, the core being his own armour Not that the darts were actually metal, but Forerunner science had come up with a solution; if spinning reached a certain rate, his suit would release iron in gas form, infusing the acid with metal in nanoseconds. The result was that the projectiles would be deflected, often at great detriment to the Flood in turn.

This time was no different, Khalis' skill allowing him to direct the projectiles back into the monstrosities, the perversions falling down into the desert sand, screeching all the way. Khalis sighed…the sounds these things made, they were all the same, whether it be from dying or tearing their enemies apart limb from limb. _"Perhaps that's all they need, a single sound," _thought Khalis sadly. _"After all, everything they do centres around death. Why would they need variety?"_

The warrior shook his pondering aside, knowing that he had bigger problems to deal with. The first was that his armour was running out of power, the ancient, battle scarred machinery finally giving up on him. The second problem was that, despite the warning signs flashing in his HUD, he could make up what would have to be the 77th wave of Flood they'd faced in the last unit closing in on them. The third problem was that there was easily more than a hundred of them.

Khalis chose to deal with the first problem first, taking off his helmet and throwing it aside; something that would have been considered sacrilegious several hundred years ago. The warrior barely thought anything of it, instead relishing the feeling of air rushing over his skin, or at least air that wasn't tainted with the gaseous excretement of the parasite, the monstrosities often changing the atmospheres of every planet they conquered to suit their own preferences.

If one had observed Khalis then and there without the Flood present, one could see that he was perfectly suited to be a warrior, although could have easily found himself pursuing a more artistic path. 7 feet tall with smooth brown skin (well, smooth if you didn't count the numerous battle scars) with the scales barely absent, jet black hair and jade eyes that seemed to shine beyond his triangular vision slits, he was undoubtedly a Forerunner who could have easily got himself a family. As it was, that wasn't to be; Mariana was the only member of his kind whom he'd participated in a Rite of Amority, it being a first and only case in that the next time he saw her, she'd been trying to kill, no,_ infest_ him.

Suffice to say, it had put Khalis off females for a while…for half a millennia as the case was.

"Orders, sir?"

Khalis spun around, half expecting to see another Flood form. Instead her saw his squad's gunner, Savassan. No-one else though. Strange.

"Where's the rest of our unit?" Khalis asked.

"Dead and/or infested," Savassan grunted.

Khalis sighed. "You know, I probably didn't even to bother asking that."

"I bet."

Despite the fact that virtually all of his squad had been killed, Khalis couldn't help chuckling. He himself had changed and he knew it; his face was marred, his black hair was no longer tied up in a warrior's style but simply flowed loosely and he probably stank to high heaven, considering that he hadn't had time to bathe properly in years. Savassan though…well, he'd remained the same ever since he met him; silent, emotionally detached…

It was to be expected really, Khalis having first encountered the now 117 year old Forerunner in the last days of the Battle of Arcadia, said battle occurring roughly a century ago and ending in defeat like every other Forerunner/Flood engagement. He'd found him crying for his parents in the corpse strewn streets, not knowing that his parents, at least from what he could tell by the bodies next to him, had taken their own lives via trauma to their spinal chords, preventing the Flood from establishing a full connection with their neural pathways. Not sure whether to be disgusted or relieved that they hadn't done the same to their child, Khalis had taken the child under his wing, adding another piece of meat to the war grinder.

"Want me to fry 'em?"

Khalis nodded, knowing that Savassan was referring to the Flood bearing down on their position. He had the means to do so too, given that he was carrying a Mark V Vindicator Energy Rifle. Similar to a Sentinel Laser but worked by harvesting Flood biomass in addition to incinerating it, the biomass being drawn into the rifle and converted into energy. More energy was spent than was gained of course, but it still made the weapon's longevity more than cost effective. It was just as well too, considering that the Forerunners had lost the means to manufacture new weaponry decades ago.

Savassan stepped forward, his sea blue eyes narrow as he gazed at the tide of pervasions sweeping towards him. Khalis wasn't sure where his helmet had gone, but given the steady flow of blood coming from the right side of his scalp, his scales inflamed, he wasn't sure whether he wanted to ask. Instead he simply stood back and prepared to enjoy the show.

It was strange that despite having seen mass Flood incineration occur tens of thousands of times, it never lost its appeal. Khalis didn't like to consider himself a sadist, but watching the monstrosities scream in pain as they burnt, the parasites having claimed the lives of most of his people…it was so…_satisfying_.

Not that this would mean anything in the long run. The concept of the Halos had seemed ideal once, a chance to preserve the Forerunner species while the Flood starved to death, denied access to the resource called sentient beings. No-one had counted on them following the refugees to the Ark though, the structure outside the galactic fringe that was situated beyond the Halos firing range. No-one had counted on the Flood following them through the portal from Sol 3 however, ignoring the savages that dwelt on the plains in favour of following their enemy. No-one had counted on the Ark becoming a prison. No-one had counted that the Ark itself being used to activate the Halos, its own range being added to the galactic radius. No-one had counted on…

…well, there were a lot of things that the Forerunners hadn't counted on. All that was left for them to do was to defend the Ark's control room and to die in whatever way seemed best for them.

Still, Khalis could add another "not counted on" thing to the list, namely that one Flood 'pure form', an organism that was considered the pinnacle of Flood evolution, had survived Savassan's cleansing fire. What was even more strange was that Savassan himself had stopped firing, looking at the Flood creature with a glazed expression.

"Savassan?"

If Khalis' comrade had heard him he gave no indication, slowly walking towards the creature that was stumbling towards him, its flesh burning. Not even the parasite could last long after a burst of cleansing flame, yet it still kept walking, driven by whatever passed for a mind…

"Why?" asked Savassan softly, standing his ground against the stumbling creature, his rifle hanging limply by his side. "Why do you do this?"

"Um, Savassan?" Khalis asked, standing by his friend as the Flood form stumbled to the ground. "What are you-…"

"Why!?" Savassan shouted, watching the creature as it struggled to rise. "Why get back up!? Why even bother!? You know as well as I do that I can incinerate you with a pull of a trigger if you take a step closer! Why don't you simply crawl in the sand and die!?"

If the Flood creature did know it showed no sign. Having finished crawling to its feet, it began staggering towards its foes again.

"Why do this!?" Savassan continued. "Why bother fighting!? Why kill us!? Why consume everything at hand? **What's the bloody point!?"**

The Flood form stopped suddenly, gazing at the two Forerunners with…what? Curiosity? Contempt? A sort of weary respect? Surely not; the Flood were mindless creatures, they didn't-…

"**You wish to know why?"**the creature asked, the voice not its own. Savassan recoiled;

"Wh…what are you?" he stammered, not expecting this.

The creature turned to Khalis, recognition in its glassy eyes, or at least what passed for them. **"You…you know me, even if your comrade does not?"**

"I…do?" Khalis asked, clutching his spear tightly.

"**The fall of Raknos? The transportation to Installation 05? Ring any bells?"** the creature sneered.

Khalis turned pale. "No…surely not…"

"**Yes…"** the creature gloated. **"I…am the monument…to all your sins…"**

Khalis remained stony faced, his memories coming back in a flood, so rapid that it never occurred to him that he'd used a taboo simile. The Gravemind…recovered on Raknos, transported to Installation 05 for study. It had been a time of jubilation in that moment, the hope being that they could finally work out how to destroy the Flood, having captured its hive mind. It didn't last long though, the Gravemind turning out to be one of dozens, perhaps hundreds. Nothing more than a stage of Flood evolution. Nothing special. Nothing unique. Simply something kept in the fortress world to rot away in the dark.

Everything had gone downhill from there. That tended to happen when hope was stripped away from you.

"How did you find us?" Savassan whispered. "How did you get to the Ark?"

"**Don't act so surprised****,"** the creature snarled. **"There is nowhere where I can't follow,** **there is nowhere that you can avoid my gaze."** It let out a barrage of unnatural laughter**. "You may as well try and hide from your own shadow!"**

"You still haven't answered the question," Savassan continued, remaining impassive as he did so. "Why do this? Why kill us?"

The creature stared at him. **"Have you not yet realised? I, **_**we**_**, the Flood do this to survive!"**

"But surely there's an alternative!" Khalis protested, caught up in Savassan's curiosity. "You're an intelligent creature, one with sentience as great as our own! Why rely on parasites and infestation to survive when you can-…"

"**Because my world is not the same as your world**!" the creature, no, Gravemind shouted. **"You Forerunners, you seek knowledge, joy, love…"** He let out a snort on the last aspect, partly due to the look of pain that crossed Khalis' visage. **"We Flood though, we seek stability, nothing more. And fat, undeserving creatures such as yourselves can give it to us!**

Savassan continued to stare. "It all sounds rather horrible…"

"**To you maybe,"** Gravemind sneered. **"But not to us. The Flood exist as one organism, a collective whole. We're never ill, we have no fear of death, we're blissfully ignorant of passion and old age, we have no lovers to feel strongly about…"**

Khalis smirked. "I almost feel sorry for you…"

"**What?"**

"A single minded species with no concept of emotion," Khalis sneered. "It's unbelievable that-…"

"**Imbecile! Do you think I know nothing of your kind?" **Gravemind thundered. **"I'm a Gravemind, a brain of the Flood. I know you Forerunners better than you know yourselves! I have studied your emotions, adding even further weight to **the conclusion reached eons ago that emotions are nothing but a **liability!"** He laughed again. **"With all your romantic concepts and other nonsense, it's no wonder that you're losing, no, have **_**lost **_**this war!"**

"What about you then?' Savassan asked softly. "You have emotion, do you not?"

The Flood creature shrugged. **"Only the requirements."**

"Pardon?"

Gravemind chuckled. **"I don't expect you to understand. How could you, with all that scientific and spiritual nonsense that you insisted on spinning around?" **The Flood seemingly smirked as he saw the Forerunners tighten their grips on their weapons. **"Understand that, for all intents and purposes, the Flood are happy."**

"But-…"

"**True, actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison to over compensations for misery. And of course, stability isn't nearly ****as spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against oppression. Happiness is never grand."**

"I suppose not," said Khalis eventually, remembering the glory and beauty of Forerunner civilisation before it had been pushed to the abyss centuries ago. "But need the alternative be so horrible as your perverted version of natural selection?"

"**But how useful!"** Gravemind declared. **"You know as well as I do that the Flood is unstoppable, hence the name. By sacrificing exactly what you embraced, our survival is guaranteed just as much as our destruction."**

Khalis was tempted to reveal what the Halos were going to do (wipe out all sentient life in the galaxy, thus starving the Flood into defeat) and when they were going to do it (a matter of minutes) but decided against it, wanting the conversation to continue. Strange how even when death was staring him in the face, both metaphorically and literally, that he sought knowledge. A true Forerunner to be sure.

"**It is funny…"** Gravemind said eventually, **"to read** _("you can read!?" exclaimed_ _Savassan_) **what you people wrote about science and spirituality. You seemed to think that both could go on forever, regardless of everything else. Knowledge the highest good, truth the supreme value, all else secondary and subordinate. It was as if you treated them like sovereign gods!" **He laughed again**. "Imbeciles. There's only one line of gods in this universe and you're talking to one of them right now!"**

"I doubt that," Khalis snarled. "If you really were deity, you could have found an alternative way to maintain your race's survival."

"**Perhaps,"** Gravemind shrugged**. "But why bother when it's just as easy to consume, not to mention that I get to have fun watching lesser species cry out against fate in the process."**

"You monster!" Savassan shouted, rushing forward with his rifle. Khalis held him back, although was equally appalled.

"**Ah, the clashing of egos,"** Gravemind sneered. **"Just like the misbegotten basis of your civilisation."**

"Indeed?" Khalis sneered, tempted to let Savassan indulge his murderous desires."

"**Of course. When it came to choosing between truth and happiness, the Flood chose the latter. But your kind…you thought you could combine the two. Hedonism from knowledge. Indulge from spirituality. Ha! Such degradation!"**

Look in the mirror before you call anything else degraded," Khalis murmured.

"**Why should I when that's a demand from a lesser species?"** asked Gravemind. **"Granted, by your standards, you could see the Flood as degraded. But that's merely one view. One set of moralities can't be combined with another, despite what your civilisation has attempted. That's the futility of philosophy. That's the ultimate cause of discontent among most sentient creatures."**

"But we like the inconveniences," Savassan protested half heartedly.

"**Maybe you do,"** Gravemind said simply. **"The Flood sets survival as its first priority.** **And look where-…"** He was cut off by Khalis grabbing the creature's neck, putting his spear tip to where the jugular vein was, if only in the past.

"And that's what you've degraded us to," snarled Khalis, his voice laced with centuries worth of hatred. "We had civilisation once. The galaxy was filled with beauty, with worship, with poetry, with freedom, with goodness, with-…"

"**In essence, the right to be unhappy,"** Gravemind stated simply."

"Fine, then we claim that right!" Khalis shouted.

Once again Gravemind laughed, something that he'd been doing for awhile now. "And I'd say that you were welcome to it, if not for the fact that you're facing extinction."

"True," murmured Khalis." "Still, we're not the only ones."

For the first time, Gravemind displayed a sense of unease. **"What?"**

Khalis chuckled. "As you said, we had the right to be unhappy. And when we're unhappy, we have ingenuity. And when we seek knowledge, we have the means to put that ingenuity into practice."

"**What the hell are you on about Forerunner? Can you not see that your words are pointless? Are you so idiotic that you cannot realise that this war is over? You've lost!"**

"We're not the only ones though."

Somehow, Gravemind didn't have to ask why. Slowly turning around, the Flood form turning around to see the silver beam rising from the centre of the Ark.

"**No…" **Gravemind whispered. **"No…not now…"**

"Death via starvation," snarled Savassan. "As you said, happiness is never grand."

The Flood form spun back around, seeing how the two Forerunners were smiling…smiling at death itself.

The indolence of the Forerunners, their knowledge entwined with naivety, every aspect of their civilisation spoke of weakness…Gravemind had never understood how they could have held out so long against the Flood, how they could somehow be both scholars and warriors…

Personality bore differences.

Differences bore emotions.

Emotions bore love and friendship.

Love and friendship, when stripped away, bore hatred.

Hatred bore desperation.

Desperation bore ingenuity.

And ingenuity had borne this final, terrible solution…the complete sterilisation of the galaxy…fatal surgery to the Flood cancer as it was.

As it screamed in the darkness of Installation 05, as the light of the Halos washed across the galaxy, Gravemind knew that the Flood had become like the Forerunners in terms of paradox…that they had both won and lost the galaxy simultaneously.

…and it understood why.


End file.
